Author of the week

Frank Bruni

Frank Bruni has a plan to reunite America—but he’s going to need some bread crumbs, said Vonnie Quinn in Bloomberg.com. The veteran New York Times columnist has teamed up with political reporter Jennifer Steinhauer to create A Meatloaf in Every Oven, a compendium of 49 recipes for a dish that’s long been an American weekday dinner staple. Friends, relatives, colleagues, and celebrity chefs contributed personal takes, as did four prominent Washington political figures—two from each party. “Everybody has a favorite family recipe, and we realize politicians do, too,” says Bruni. “It’s a quintessential American dish that can bind a nation.”

Don’t expect that Bruni and Steinhauer discovered a bipartisan consensus on the perfect meatloaf recipe. House Speaker Paul Ryan, an enthusiastic deer hunter, contributed a venison version. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi worked with her 6-year-old granddaughter to develop a veal-and-bison loaf seasoned with fresh rosemary. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer found a way to combine chicken, beef, veal, and pork in a recipe Bruni has dubbed the Omnibus Loaf. (Far from bringing people together, that recipe sparked a small backlash from observant Jews in New York who were disappointed that their senator so boldly went nonkosher.) Bruni admits there’s only so much his first cookbook can do to heal the nation’s political rifts. “I don’t think meatloaf can save the world,” he recently told a Times colleague. “But I certainly think in the coming tomorrows there will be a healthier appetite for comfort.” ■